The Games People Play (E03)

During the initial introductions each of the presenters mentioned a few resources we thought y’all should have access to. Here you can find all of the books and games mentioned by the panel members and access to purchasing them for your own use.

Dr. Luke Stark:

Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Sociology at Dartmouth College and a Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University

James Carse: Finite and Infinite Games

This book describes the differences between finite and infinite game characteristics and how they influence life.

Gamification: the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts

This principle was first applied to customer loyalty programs in the 1970’s with S&H Greenstamps.

Game of Work, by Charles Coonradt, comments on the link between making work like a game and, therefore, more enjoyable. For more information on this book, and for purchasing, click here.

The first educational games that Luke really enjoyed include Oregon Trail (click here) and Where in the World is Carmen (click here).

Dr. Gili Freedman

Postdoctoral Scholar in the Tiltfactor lab. Founded and led by Mary Flanagan, the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor in Digital Humanities, Tiltfactor designs games that lead to positive social change—reducing sexual assault on campuses, raising climate change awareness, diminishing gender bias—that are also fun to play.

Buffalo was developed in Gili’s lab and challenges prejudice by making players engage in counterstereotypical pairs. Click here to purchase.

Awkward Moment was also developed in Gili’s lab and targets middle school students and focuses on positive social interactions. Click here to purchase.

Lyn Lord

History teacher at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden NH, and founder of EdPlay.org .

Lyn focused a lot on the games she actually uses in her classroom that have been proven to work well. Find links for purchase to put these games into your own classroom.

Civilization is a game where players develop their own civilization from start to finish! Educational discounts are available! Click here for more information.

Minecraft is a very popular game that allows players to create their own world in a building block space. Lyn uses this game to encourage students to create a world symbolic of what their civilization represents. This game also uses geological terms for all of the materials used so the players develop a general vocabulary. Click here for more information.

Portal is an amazing game that requires players to use real physics in order to navigate through the levels and progress. Click here for more information.

A list of other games/ game companies listed that may be critical for your classroom:

Glasslab

The Institute of Play

Paper Please (game about immigration and granting access to the U.S.)

Finally, one of the most useful links, perhaps, is the link to Lyn’s website that develops core competencies, rubrics, and scoring systems for games in the classroom. Click here to access her website.

We hope you enjoyed this episode and please post questions or comments to our Comment page!